Psalm 89 - Modern English Version

A Contemplative Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

¹ I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

² For I have said, “Mercy will be built up forever; Your faithfulness will be established in the heavens.”

³ You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:

⁴ ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build up your throne for all generations.’ ”    Selah

⁵ Let the heavens praise Your wonders, O  Lord, Your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?

⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around Him.

⁸ O  Lord God of Hosts, who is as mighty as You, O  Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds You.

⁹ You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.

¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like one who is slain; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it, You have founded them.

¹² The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.

¹³ You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, and exalted is Your right hand.

¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your presence.

¹⁵ Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout. They walk, O  Lord, in the light of Your countenance.

¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness they are exalted.

¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength; by Your favor our horn is exalted.

¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Long ago You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰ I have found David, My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him,

²¹ by whom My hand shall be established; My arm also shall strengthen him.

²² The enemy shall not exact usury from him, nor the wicked humiliate him.

²³ I will beat down his foes before him, and strike those who hate him.

²⁴ My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted.

²⁵ I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.

²⁶ He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.’

²⁷ Also I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸ My mercy will I keep for him forever, and My covenant will stand firm with him.

²⁹ His descendants also will I establish forever and his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ “If his children forsake My law and do not walk according to My decrees,

³¹ if they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments,

³² then will I punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

³³ Nevertheless I will not remove My lovingkindness from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

³⁴ I will not break My covenant, nor alter the word that has gone out from My lips.

³⁵ Once and for all have I sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.

³⁶ His descendants shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

³⁷ It shall be established forever like the moon, a faithful witness in the sky.”   Selah

³⁸ But now You have spurned and rejected him, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

³⁹ You have renounced the covenant with Your servant; You have defiled his crown by casting it to the ground.

⁴⁰ You have broken down all his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

⁴¹ All who pass by plunder him; he is a reproach to his neighbors.

⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³ Moreover, You have turned back the edge of his sword, and You have not sustained him in battle.

⁴⁴ You have made his splendor cease, and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵ You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame.    Selah

⁴⁶ How long, O  Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? How long will Your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷ Remember how short my time is! For what vanity have You created all the sons of men?

⁴⁸ What man can live and not see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?    Selah

⁴⁹ Lord, where is Your lovingkindness of old, which by Your faithfulness You swore to David?

⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many peoples,

⁵¹ with which Your enemies have reproached, O  Lord, with which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

⁵² Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.